SOTA c63s02
Text It was a long, slow waking up: by the time Scrivener Blooms managed to sit up in bed, his body was aching and he was already wondering whether or not the day was going to be worth pushing through. He grumbled a little to himself, slowly rubbing at one of his forelegs before he sighed a little as Twilight shifted in bed and pushed her face into Luna's breast. The sapphire mare herself had her eyes open, looking softly up at the stallion, and Scrivener gazed back for a few moments before he leaned down and kissed her forehead gently, just beneath her horn. She smiled faintly at him, then nodded a little before murmuring: “Tea today, I think, Scrivy. 'Tis not usually my preference but... I do not think the sun is even close to rising yet, is it?” Scrivener wasn't sure he even wanted to know what time it was exactly, but he knew Luna was right about that, at least. There wasn't a hint of light in the room apart from the soft glow emitted by Luna's mane, and the faint, comforting aura that came from her soulstone horn. The stallion paused before he gently stroked a hoof over this, and Luna shuddered and arched her back a little before mumbling: “Damn thou, Scrivy. 'Tis not the time for that.” The stallion smiled despite himself, then he shook his head and turned, hauling himself to his hooves and yawning a little as he mumbled: “Makes me really wonder what you'd be like as a stallion, Luna, if your other horn would end up being that sensitive.” “'Twould be much larger than a horn, Scrivy, and 'twould be much less twitchy than thine own.” Luna grumbled in response to this, but the stallion only smiled amusedly as he strode towards the door, letting himself quietly out of the bedroom as Luna flopped back down and closed her eyes, curling the Lich closer up against her body as she mumbled: “Horn. Pah. I shall show thee a sensitive horn.” The stallion, meanwhile, meandered his way through the living room and into the kitchen. All was quiet, but then again, Antares had gone to stay at Meadowlark's for the night, and Innocence had been completely tuckered out by her long day. And after bringing Cheshire back to CIMH, he and Luna had been a little tired themselves... although cheerful. Innocence had enjoyed a great party, at least. Lots of family, even if she didn't have lots of friends. Well, Scrivener liked to think some were both, and Cheshire was definitely a friend to their baby girl, which was a huge relief for him. Scrivener smiled as he heard a chirping, and then Abaddon leapt up onto his back and scurried up to his shoulder to nibble at his mane as the stallion went about the process of digging out some peppermint tea from their cluttered shelves. “Hey, kid. How are you holding up?” Abaddon chirped at him again, then crawled up onto his head and sat primly atop his skull, and Scrivener smiled despite himself as he continued to ruffle through things. “I figured as much. You're an independent little guy, aren't you? But I'm glad for that. Much as I want to carry you around with me everywhere, me and Luna kind of go into a lot of rough places, and I'm not sure you can even send letters or anything. I guess Twilight could teach you that trick... maybe. I dunno. You have blue breath.” The pseudodragon nodded, then belched out a toxic cloud of blue mist that floated in the air for a moment before dissolving, and Scrivener shook his head as he finally managed to find the box of teabags. “Still, though. Maybe I'm just being overprotective. You're also made of mire... furthermore, the only successful thing I've made, too.” The cheerful little reptile chirped proudly at this, and Scrivener Blooms snorted in amusement. “Yep, of course. It's all you, Abby. You definitely made yourself all by yourself.” Abaddon huffed a little and lightly scratched at his scalp, making the pony wince and shake his head out. “Okay okay. Jerk.” It only took a few minutes for the kettle to boil, and Scrivener snatched it quickly off the stove just before it could begin to whistle, not wanting to wake Innocence up. When she slept through the night it was a rare blessing, after all, and she always woke up a lot happier when she was well-rested. His daughter was proving a little tougher than Antares had been: she was crankier, more independent, more moody and more adventurous. Antares had always been curious and good-natured and quiet: Innocence was loud and brazen and... Lunaish. He loved her though, with all his heart. And he, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle all felt like parents to her, and accepted each other's role as a parent and guardian to the little girl. Although Luna had insisted that Scrivener come up with better terms for them than Daddy, Mommy One and Mommy Two, with Mommy Two being the non-biological mother. Scrivener had suggested Biological Mother and Not Biological Mother and promptly gotten bopped. So he had been forced to turn his attention to the relationship books that Twilight kept, and dig up any other literature he could find regarding the subject of more-unusual relationships. Unusual at least for Equestria, and the country they lived in. It was funny: he was a romantic at heart, even if he was a very dark romantic, but he utterly loathed relationship texts and 'how to' articles and books about that kind of thing. Sure, he believed that you could learn a few things from others... but application and theory were two different stories, especially since ponies were all so different themselves, and every relationship was different. As he had learned from experience, two perfectly nice, friendly ponies could get in a relationship and it would turn into a complete and utter catastrophe. While two ponies who did nothing but slap at each other all day and act like children could get in a relationship and it just worked somehow, for no reason other than that... it just did. Sure, there was a certain... logic to it all, when you broke things down. He knew there were plenty of psychological reasons and emotional aspects, but what he thought everything came down to was just personal preferences, and most important of all, trust. Friendship was important too, but maybe that was just him: not everypony got that he'd rather call Luna and Twilight his best friends than his wives. Although of course, it was very rare he referred to Twilight as a 'wife,' they all got a little weirded-out by that. That didn't take away from her importance, though: she was confidant, adviser, friend, secret-keeper, partner, mother to both his children. Luna loathed terms like 'queen mother,' 'primary' and 'secondary,' and pretty much everything else Scrivener dug up. They were a triad, and equal: she just wanted words so they could know better when Innocence was calling for Twilight or Luna, but she was extremely intent on not ever labeling Twilight with something that made her sound like she was less to them. Yes, Twilight listened to them: often, she was submissive, while Luna was clearly the one in control. But at the same time, when Twilight spoke up, they listened. They didn't ignore her opinion, they never overrode her, and usually she was the only pony apart from Celestia who could ever chastise them and actually make them feel bad about whatever they'd screwed up. So, finally, that left Scrivener with the duty to make up his own glossary. He wasn't allowed to use words that were 'belittling,' or made Luna feel 'old' or 'witchy.' Scrivener had thought on this for weeks, looking through all his books for ideas and wishing grumpily he could just magically write down a word and make all the possible synonyms appear. He had no doubt that he and probably every other writer with access to it would use it constantly when trying to dig up fancy words. He had finally come up with a few dozen possibilities, and Luna rejected them one after the other, complaining that none of them sounded natural, or they were too different from each other, or Innocence wouldn't be able to say it. Finally, Scrivener had grumbled that they should just call her móðer like in the old language and Twilight 'mother,' and that would be enough and Luna had looked at him thoughtfully before agreeing with a firm nod. Of course, Innocence couldn't say the word very well, so what she often ended up with was 'mutter,' 'mutta,' sometimes just 'mutt,' and Twilight was 'mama' or 'mommy' any of those variations. Which pleased Luna less, but she found it adorable coming from Innocence, so she decided it had all worked out. Although it certainly hadn't stopped her from bopping Scrivener Blooms again anyway. It also often sounded the same to anyone who wasn't listening closely, since Innocence was still running a lot of her words together. But Luna and Twilight could both clearly understand the babe, and it made it a world easier for them now that they could know who was being called when, even if previously they had never had much trouble telling who Innocence wanted just by instinct. The stallion finished spreading jam over several muffin halves resting on a tray next to the steeping cups of tea, and then he leaned up before pausing and instead raising a front hoof. It clicked apart into a claw, and Scrivener smiled slightly as he took the tray and carried it easily like this, striding slowly back towards the bedroom as Abaddon hopped off his head to scurry back and forth through the corridor and twine around his hooves. It got a little more complicated at the door, but thankfully Luna opened it for him with telekinesis from where she and Twilight were now sitting up in bed together, propped against the pillows and smiling softly at the stallion. The tray floated out of his grip, and Scrivener nodded gratefully as he shook his claw out before it snapped back together into a hoof, saying quietly: “Still feels weird to hold things. I wonder if I'm ever really going to get used to having these.” “I think we can get used to anything.” Twilight said softly as she gently set the tray down beside Luna, and the glow faded from around it and her horn before she smiled up at him. “You were thinking about our relationship again.” “Scrivener is always thinking of it. He should be very honored by what we have together.” Luna said firmly, nodding and smiling slightly as she winked across at him. “He gets to play servant and stud to two pretty mares.” The stallion rolled his eyes in amusement as he strode forwards and flopped down into bed, and then he smiled slightly as Twilight half-curled herself against him, closing his eyes and murmuring: “Nah. The best part is this, right here, Luna. Quiet, at peace with you and everyone else, knowing our kid's safe and going to grow up and be... good, and strong, and hopefully more like Twilight than you.” The sapphire mare snorted in amusement, but only gently bopped the stallion's forehead with a hoof as the Lich nodded a little against his chest. Then Luna picked up a muffin half, gazing at the faint light streaming in through the left-open door before Abaddon poked his head in. “Oh, shoo. We cannot do terrible, debauched things to one-another with thou watching.” Abaddon huffed at this, and Twilight snorted in amusement, mumbling: “I think you're the only one up for that right now, Luna. Besides, there's tea and muffins. You can't talk dirty when there's tea and muffins around, that's a rule.” “Twilight Sparkle, sometimes I fear for the effect that Scrivener Blooms has had on thee.” Luna said wryly, and Scrivener only shrugged a little before he opened his mouth as Luna leaned over, and the mare dropped the muffin half into his jaws, smiling amusedly down at him. “Then again, he makes a very obedient little pet, I must admit, and 'tis very cute.” Scrivener shrugged as he chewed up the muffin half, and the three rested together in comfort, eating the muffins, drinking their tea, curling up together and just talking about things. Normal things, like the weather and their thoughts on things happening around Ponyville and what they planned to do today, and of course Innocence, their gorgeous little filly. Eventually Twilight insisted that they get up, since they had likely only slept for a few hours and they could put the rest of the time before Innocence woke up towards neatening up and getting things done around the house. Luna groaned loudly at this, but after a little coaxing she grumbled that she would help out a little, starting with the bedroom. Luna was a very slow starter when it came to cleaning, but that was a good thing, really: Scrivener and Twilight, meanwhile, coordinated themselves very well together. While Twilight cleaned the kitchen, Scrivener neatened out the den room. Then they moved upstairs: they tackled the office together, smiling and chatting amiably as they did so, occasionally nudging and teasing each other while Luna finally dragged herself out of bed downstairs, grumbling huffily about the two having such a good time before she bit her lip and closed her eyes to see through Scrivener's. She concentrated until she heard a loud thump from across the house, then grinned, feeling pleased with herself as Scrivener and Twilight both grumbled and went about righting the shelf Luna had managed to yank over with telekinesis. Even with the added cleanup, they still finished the office and moved on to the rest of the upstairs area before Luna had finished up the bedroom. And the sapphire mare groaned as they both mentally ordered her to clean the bathroom, grumbling to herself the entire time. When she finished, Twilight and Scrivener were still finishing up the rooms upstairs, so Luna moved into the laundry room and looked curiously at the washing machine for a long few moments. About five minutes later, Scrivener and Twilight both slowly looked up at a horrible thumping and squalling coming from downstairs, and the two winced and rushed down to find Luna panicking as she danced around the washer as it vomited soap suds and water in every direction, vibrating violently into the walls and yanking on the piping it was connected to. Twilight and Scrivener both tackled the machine, but the stallion yelped and was promptly electrocuted by the malfunctioning washer and thrown backwards. Twilight winced at this, ignoring the pulse of electricity that shocked over her own body, then looked wildly back and forth as she leapt away from the sparking appliance before almost jumping on Luna when her horn began to glow, clearly meaning to just blow the machine up. Then the violet mare snapped her horn towards the fuse box on the wall, snapping the switches off with a wild swing of telekinesis and knocking several fuses free. Luna had apparently decided to kickstart the washing machine by electrifying it... after overloading it with suds and clothing and setting it to do industrial-level cleaning. Twilight and Scrivener both stared over the devastation wrought by the smoldering machine that was bleeding water like blood, a fractured pipe behind it dribbling more of the substance over the floor, and Luna blushed and took the excuse that Innocence was crying to scurry off and tend to the filly. Scrivener mumbled under his breath, but he and Twilight only traded looks and sighs after a moment. This happened more often than Scrivener liked to think about. So while Twilight winced and dragged the mostly-destroyed clothing, towels, and sheets out of the dead washing machine, the stallion went about the process of blocking off the pipes for now and repairing what had shaken loose and broken over the wall. Well, it at least gave them something to do today, and it was probably sixish in the morning now. Luna was embarrassed, but neither Twilight nor Scrivener could stay all that mad at her when she was taking care of Innocence. They were used to little accidents like this, anyway: Luna might be able to do everything else, but she had never quite adjusted to using household appliances, and tended to forget they didn't work the same way that ones powered by magic did. A few things were salvageable: most of the towels, some of the clothing. The rest of it had to be thrown out, though, and Twilight figured they might as well pick some of that up in Ponyville today while they got Cowlick or one of her smarter workers to come out here and repair the washing machine. Assuming it could be repaired. They also needed some new fuses, since the ones Twilight had knocked loose had gotten soaked and damaged. Luna remained humble for about an hour. Then she insisted on being 'helpful,' which Twilight and Scrivener always dreaded: this was another way she was just like Sleipnir, who also often wanted to make up for any little errors of judgment he made and usually just made things worse. Of course, Pinkamena tended to just punch Sleipnir, but tempting as it was sometimes, neither Twilight nor Scrivy really wanted to punch Luna. So finally, they hesitantly agreed to let Luna finish cleaning up the mess while Scrivener took care of Innocence, playing with her and making her a bit of breakfast. Twilight, meanwhile, went back upstairs to finish straightening up the guest room. Luna did a good job of mopping up, at least, but then Scrivener caught her grumpily poking at the washing machine with her horn, and simply glared at her from the doorway until she slowly turned a bright shade of red, then cleared her throat and said awkwardly: “I was merely... ensuring that... 'twas not going to burst back into life. That is all.” Scrivener grumbled and returned to Innocence, who was growling and flailing wildly in all directions in her baby seat, which she hated because it had straps to hold her in place. Then she yelled loudly when Scrivener leaned down and gave her a pointed look, before finally grumbling and settling a little, giving him a surly glower. The stallion only smiled at this despite his best efforts not to. She was so damn strong-willed... it was both admirable, and incredibly frustrating at times. He reached out and gently stroked back her mane, and Innocence only huffed at him loudly before trying to nip his hoof, but Scrivener winced and hurriedly drew it away, catching her gently by the nose. Innocence continued to be cranky, and it was always a little hard to calm her down. She wasn't like most babies, with a security object or two that she would happily cling to and use to soothe herself, like the Gymbr doll had been for Antares. Nor did she put up with pacifiers or soothers: she would always spit them out, and the only pleasure she took from them seemed to be seeing how far she could spit it or if she could manage to hit someone. A little later in the morning, once Twilight was done upstairs and Luna was starting to put the incident past her, the three decided to head into Ponyville together. Innocence grumbled for a little of the journey, but eventually fell asleep in her carrier, snoring loudly away as Twilight awkwardly tried to adjust the filly's head into a better position every now and then, but Innocence always fidgeted right back into her painful-looking dead slump. They made good time, and wandered for a little while before Twilight led them to a little store owned by an old couple, where they picked up new sheets and blankets and towels to replace the old. Innocence woke up around this point, and grumbled at the couple cooing over her before they made their way out, and the filly studied Ponyville thoughtfully before huffing and holding her little claws up: “Play, Mutter, play!” Luna cocked her head curiously towards Twilight Sparkle, and the Lich bit her lip, then began to open her mouth to bring up her schedules and how the later it got, the busier Cowlick would probably be, and all these other points, but then Innocence asked again, almost desperately: “Play?” So instead, they ended up at a little park, where Luna sat astride one of the brightly-painted plastic dragons that sat on an enormous spring, rocking back and forth with an amused look on her features as Innocence giggled in her lap. Scrivener and Twilight both watched with warm smiles on their faces, the stallion shaking his head slowly before he glanced in surprise as a red-tinged tear slid down Twilight's cheek. “You okay?” “I... yeah, yeah. It's... it's nothing. I'm just... I'm just really happy. I'm really happy that...” Twilight reached up, rubbing compulsively at one of her cheeks, and then she suddenly turned and almost flung herself into Scrivener Blooms, the stallion blinking even as he caught her as she hugged him tightly, fiercely around the neck. “Thank you. Both of you.” “Mama!” Innocence called loudly, and then she flailed a little before scrambling out of Luna's lap and leaping to the ground, running across the grass to barrel into Twilight, and the Lich laughed as she swept up her daughter in a fierce, tight embrace, closing her eyes. And her joy only increased when Luna leapt in as well, the three embracing, keeping Innocence safe and protected and encircled within as the filly laughed and smiled happily. Innocence went back to playing after that: she played with some of the other parent's foals, and Scrivener kept an eye on her to make sure she didn't get too bossy and behaved well, while Twilight Sparkle kept an eye on Luna to stop her from freaking out any of the other parents too much. Innocence was fairly good with the other kids, at least: Scrivener only had to gently scold her once when she tried to steal a chubby little colt's shovel and bucket. Well, perhaps 'mug' was a better word for what she had been attempting to do. After a little grumbling, she went back to watch and then politely ask for the shovel in half-baby talk, and the colt looked at the filly before handing it almost grudgingly over. But then Innocence went about helping him with the tremendous hole the colt was digging, and they began to work together a little better, which Scrivener thought was an enormous relief with the father of the young boy lurking uneasily nearby. Scrivener looked over at him: fairly young, stressed-looking, big dopey glasses and a tie, of all things. Expensive watch, though, and his cutie mark looked like some kind of mathematical symbol, so Scrivener figured he was probably an accountant or banker or something. Except... Before he even realized it, Scrivener Blooms was letting his eyes refocus, seeing 'behind the masks,' as he phrased it: for a moment, he glimpsed the emotions running through the stallion as he saw strange auras and surreal imagery, and he winced a little before reaching up and rubbing at his eyes, the vision fading as quickly as it had come. He had gotten much better control over that nasty little habit of his these days, but sometimes it still came and went... usually it was only ghosts and their kin that set off his eyes these days. He cleared his throat after a moment, then smiled a little when he saw the younger stallion was looking at him awkwardly before Scrivener said finally: “My daughter doesn't usually get along with other foals so well. It's nice to see.” “Yeah. Uh. Yeah.” the other pony said awkwardly, looking down at his chubby son, and then both fathers looked lamely away at almost the same time as the conversation fell flat, while Innocence cheerfully babbled away to the chubby colt, who just nodded seriously now and then. Luna rolled her eyes at this, and Twilight sighed a little, then winced when the sapphire mare strode quickly over to Scrivener. She half-shoved him out of the way, then thrusted her hoof towards the stallion, saying imperiously: “I am Luna Brynhild, and this is Scrivener Blooms. Who art thou and what is the name of thy child?” The stallion simply stared at her... but the method did prove effective, and Luna looked proud of herself at having made a new friend for Innocence. Of course, she also had wasted no time in pointing out that Clinker was a rather rotund little baby boy, but his father, Bean Counter, had seemed far too used to this comment to do anything but sigh and plead that it was just baby fat. Innocence looked pleased to have a little friend herself: they had already arranged a short playdate, since Bean had been mumbling about needing to find a babysitter tomorrow, and Luna had pounced on the chance, saying they could meet at the library and watch out for Clinker there for a few hours, and he and Innocence could get to know each other better. Twilight had come over to point out Luna didn't own the library, Celestia did, but Luna had just grumbled that she owned Celestia so it didn't matter anyway, and Scrivener couldn't really think of a way to refute this logic without getting hit. So he hadn't said anything, and been bopped anyway after a moment. They headed to the engineering building first, though, since it was closer: Cowlick was busy, but promised to send someone out their way as soon as possible. Then she had asked curiously if they had seen Celestia around, and when Luna had said they were just going to the library now, the engineer nodded firmly before saying mildly: “Wait here a minute, I'm gonna come with you. I got something that I gotta show off.” “'Tis not another giant gun, is it? I swear, Cowlick, if thou gives Celestia a giant gun I will be filled with anger.” Luna said dryly, and Cowlick snorted in amusement and grinned widely at this. “Hell no. At least, not right now. After how badly Sleipnir and Pinkamena creamed those two yesterday at their little race, the last thing I want to give Celestia is a gun. I'll be back in a minute.” And with that, Cowlick turned and strode through the doors as Luna nodded agreeably. The engineer returned with something large and apparently heavy in a case strapped to her back, wheezing around the unlit cigarette in her muzzle as she muttered: “Okay, let's get going here. I ain't no freak like you, Luna, able to carry large, heavy things for long periods of time.” “Oh, no, I never do such. That is what Scrivener is for.” Luna remarked cheerfully, and Scrivener sighed even as he nodded in agreement, and Twilight laughed. “What is it then, pray tell? Thou just said 'twas not a weapon.” “It ain't. Dammit, mare, just wait five minutes, I can't goddamn talk with this goddamn thing on my back.” Cowlick muttered as she followed them out the door, and then she winced when Innocence mimicked the one repeated word she had spoken, and Twilight glowered at the engineer. “Oops.” They made their way across Ponyville a little quieter, even as Luna poked curiously at the hard case protecting whatever was rattling around inside the box, until they reached the door to the library. Luna simply booted this open, and Celestia didn't even look up from the forms she was going over, only greeting absently: “Hello, Luna.” Discombobulation favored the sapphire mare with a dry look, seated primly on the table beside Celestia and absently brushing her mane: something else Celestia was mostly ignoring, before her amethyst eyes flicked curiously up as Cowlick staggered into the room. “This is a surprise, though. Kilby Kwolek, what are you doing here?” “God-” Cowlick caught herself as Twilight and Scrivener both glared at her, the engineer clearing her throat before she said in a milder voice: “Cowlick. My name's just Cowlick. But here, I got this for you. Well, half for you, half for Bob, there, since he's such a pain in the ass.” Discombobulation tilted his head curiously at this, spinning on his butt over the table and hopping to the floor on the other side. Then he winced when Cowlick simply flung the box off with a loud grunt, sending it crashing and half-rolling before the clasps popped loose, and the object inside spilled loose of the cloth it had been wrapped in. The chaos entity's eyes widened as his jaw fell open, and then he slowly reached down and rubbed a hoof over it as Celestia smiled warmly, leaning forwards and whispering: “You rebuilt it.” “Hell no, do I look like a repeat performer to you? This one's brand new, and better than the last one, if I do say so myself.” Cowlick said comfortably, rubbing a hoof against her vest and straightening with a wide grin, and Luna, Scrivener and Twilight all stared with amazement at the new prosthetic arm. “By the way, do you guys have any idea how hard it is to keep a damn secret around here? Ross and I had to make this whole thing ourselves. Now try it on, I wanna make sure it fits.” Discombobulation mouthed wordlessly... and then the prosthetic glowed with golden light before floating up and gently but firmly setting itself into place, a large cusp locking over his shoulder as the harness that extended from it quickly tied itself around the Draconequus' body. Layered plates of metal flexed almost like real flesh and muscle, and slowly, the complex metal claw raised itself up, fingers twitching and working slowly at first... then they moved in sudden quick rhythm, before the Draconequus snapped his arm out to the side, then thrust it high into the air, striking a pose with it. Cowlick only grinned widely as Celestia looked over the Draconequus with delight, and Discombobulation slowly lowered his hand back in front of himself to whisper: “It's just like my old arm. Maybe even better.” “Told you. Sleeker design, see? Fits your body a little better than that older one did.” Cowlick reached up and tapped against his metal wrist. “That's because I had better materials to work with... great and tough as that giant metal golem's arm was, it still was old, and worn-down, and you went and proved you could overload that damn crystal inside it if you wanted to. So this thing I enhanced using that bit of soulstone I requisitioned as a kind of circuit breaker. Seems like as a nice side effect it lets your chaos energies mix a little smoother through those crystal cores that make your arm work. “I made it more solid, too. Last design was all fierce and intimidating as hell, sure, but the claw was clankier and the damn plates tended to get bent and dented, but I shouldn't have to remind you of that.” Cowlick continued, reaching up to tap the smoother metal claw. “This is a lot more stable and compressed. It'll be better both for combat and gripping into soft fleshy bits, if you know what I mean.” Cowlick winked up at Discombobulation, who glowered before he reached his metal hand down and squeezed her nose firmly, the mare yelping and cursing as she staggered backwards before the Draconequus rose his steel arm and said thoughtfully: “Huh. Well. I like it even more already. What do you know, it turns out that Angela Spica here made something better-developed than her character.” “You can eat my as... uh... asparagus.” Cowlick finished awkwardly, when Twilight gave her a pointed look. “Uh. Yeah. But I'm glad to hear you like it, then, even if I didn't get a proper thank you yet. You stupid jerk.” “Jerk Bob.” Innocence added, and then she reached her little claws towards the metallic arm, looking fascinated by the way it glinted and moved, burbling excitedly. Discombobulation huffed a little at this, then reached a single finger down to gently push it against the filly's nose, saying mildly: “I am not a jerk, and I'll prove it right now.” He paused, cleared his throat and turned towards Cowlick... then suddenly swept her up in a bone-crushing hug, babbling: “Thank you thank you thank you thank you!” Cowlick gasped for breath, cigarette flying into the air and falling straight back down her throat before she coughed a few times, eyes bulging, and Twilight winced as Luna only laughed and Celestia smiled warmly, nodding in agreement. “This is wonderful, Cowlick, and... and I can't thank you enough for it as well, or for all the good you've done for Ponyville. You've really-” And then Cowlick turned her head and spat out the soaked cigarette before shoving firmly at Discombobulation, freeing herself from his limbs with a loud wheeze to land on her rump and flop backwards with a groan. “Oh you son of a bitch. Go back to not being thankful. Don't ever thank me again, any of you, I hate you all.” Luna only laughed as Scrivener smiled and shook his head, and Discombobulation cleared his throat awkwardly before bowing forwards and daintily offering his metallic hand. Cowlick glared up at him, but after a moment she finally rolled her eyes and reached up to take it, letting him help her back to her hooves with a gentle tug. Then the Draconequus looked down at his metallic arm again before he blushed slightly when Celestia hugged him firmly from the side and rested her head against him, gazing into his eyes warmly. And after a moment, his metallic arm slowly settled over her shoulders and his strangely-warm steel hand squeezed her quietly, the two smiling softly and seeing only each other in that moment. It made Cowlick grin as she brushed absently her denim vest, and all the effort she had put into the mechanical marvel she'd never use herself worthwhile. Top ↑